[2] Mercer was born on Christmas Day 1949 and raised at Shoreham-by-Sea, one of seven children in a family living in a small three-bedroom home, and was a member of the town's local Baptist church.

[4] Remaining at Selwyn College, he studied for, and was awarded, the Postgraduate Certificate in Education as a qualified teacher in 1973.

[3] Following training at Cranmer Hall, Durham, he was ordained as a deacon in 1995, and as a priest shortly afterwards, in the same year.

[4] In his autobiography, published in the anthology "The post-evangelical debate" (1997), Mercer speaks of a growing realisation that he was no longer a conservative evangelical, despite his continued deep Biblical faith.

He was a Prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral from 2008 (around the time of his appointment as Vicar general) to 2017.